Mourners in Stroudsburg grieve loss of young woman

More than 400 friends and family of Alyssa Toner filled Stroudsburg United Methodist Church Saturday to memorialize her short life.

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By DAVID KIDWELL

poconorecord.com

By DAVID KIDWELL

Posted Mar. 10, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By DAVID KIDWELL

Posted Mar. 10, 2013 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

More than 400 friends and family of Alyssa Toner filled Stroudsburg United Methodist Church Saturday to memorialize her short life.

Toner, 24, was killed in a car crash on March 2 in Chestnuthill Township.

So many people attended the service that the church has to open the adjoining fellowship hall to fit everyone in.

On the warmest day of the year in the Poconos, the line to get in the church stretched a half a block.

Kate Mastrobattista, 25, of Effort, was among those in line. Friends since junior high, she fought back tears as she recalled Toner's warmth.

"She was fantastic," she said. "She had this light about her and would give everyone peace and love. She made everybody feel special and always brought out something good in people."

Standing alongside Mastrobattista was her friend, Kristina Kelly of Tobyhanna.

"She had a beautiful voice," Kelly said. "She had the voice of an angel when she sang. And she did a lot of volunteering at her church."

Adopted at birth, Toner spent years trying to find her biological mother and father. She recently turned to the Internet, and YouTube in particular, to help try to track them down. She recorded and posted a silent video, using only handwriting on story board cards, but never found her biological parents.

The Rev. Bob Shank led the service that included Bible passages and traditional church hymns.

Matt Serpico, Toner's fiance, choked up as he spoke to the crowd.

"She helped me grow as a person, as a man, as a human being. She had so much love for everyone — if she knew you for just a split second she loved you," he said. "I fell head over heels in love with her. She was an angel in real life and now she is a spiritual angel."

Marissa Stroehlein told the story of how Toner first asked her to be her maid of honor for the wedding she was planning for in 2014.

Several months ago, Toner came to see her with a gift, a small ceramic elephant, which when separated revealed a hidden compartment inside. Stroehlein said she fiddled with it and was unable to separate the two pieces. Toner calmly showed her how to open the elephant. Inside was a note.

"It said, in her lovely handwriting, 'Would you please be my maid of honor?'"

"I cried, I cried — I never get picked for anything. I was always a goofball, the odd person out, the third wheel. And she chose me," Stroehlein said.